ACC releases 2014 football schedules

Thursday home game against Miami and Friday home game against Virginia highlight home slate

BLACKSBURG – The Atlantic Coast Conference released its 2014 football schedule Wednesday, and Virginia Tech’s 12-game slate features an exciting six-game home lineup of both conference and non-conference contests.

“This will be a challenging schedule, with eight teams that went to bowl games last season,” Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer said. “I think our fans are excited that we have added a national power like Ohio State. We also feel playing back-to-back Thursday night games, along with a home game against Virginia on the Friday after Thanksgiving, will provide a tremendous amount of exposure.”

The Hokies will open their 2014 season at home on Saturday, Aug. 30 against FBS and in-state foe William & Mary before heading to Columbus, Ohio, for the first of a two-game series against Ohio State. Tech will take on OSU on Sept. 6 of this year in the Horseshoe before playing host to the Buckeyes on Labor Day Night in 2015.

Tech’s final two non-conference games will also come in the month of September: at home against East Carolina on Sept. 13 and home against Western Michigan on Sept. 27.

The Hokies will open league play on Sept. 20, playing host to Georgia Tech. The Hokies will also play home ACC contests against Miami (Oct. 23), Boston College (Nov. 1) and Virginia (Nov. 28). Tech will have road conference games against North Carolina (Nov. 4), Pittsburgh (Oct. 16), Duke (Nov. 15) and Wake Forest (Nov. 22).

Once again, the Hokies will close the regular season against in-state rival Virginia. The Hokies and Cavaliers will meet for the 96th time when they battle on Fri., Nov. 28 in Blacksburg. It will be just the fourth non-Saturday game in the series’ history and the first since the two schools played on the Friday after Thanksgiving in 1996.

The Hokies and East Carolina met last season in Greenville with Tech pulling out a 15-10 win to take a 13-5 lead in the series. Tech and Western Michigan last met in the 2004 when the Hokies beat the Broncos 63-0 in Blacksburg. The two schools also played in 2001 and 2002, with the Hokies winning both of those games. Virginia Tech and William & Mary have met 62 previous times, but only once since 1985. That meeting came in 2007, with the Hokies beating the Tribe 44-3 at home. The two schools met each year from 1936-64 as members of the Southern Conference. This will be the first meeting in football between Virginia Tech and Ohio State.

After not having a Thursday night home game last season for the first time since the 2001 season, Tech will return to that role, playing Miami on Thursday, Oct. 23. This will come a week after playing at Pitt onThursday, Oct. 16.

Once again this season, the league is broken into two separate divisions – the Atlantic (Louisville, Clemson, NC State, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Boston College and Florida State) and Coastal (Virginia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Duke, Pittsburgh, Miami and Virginia Tech) – with the two division winners meeting on Dec. 6 in the Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Game.

Times for most games will be made available as the season gets closer.

The composite schedule for all 14 ACC teams can be found at TheACC.com.

The deadline for fans to have their renewals in for season ticket orders to the Virginia Tech Athletics Ticket Office is March 14. Mail orders must be received, not postmarked, by March 14. Hokie Club members will receive their season ticket renewal application in early February.